Senate Signals Strong Support for Housing Bill

Those eager to refinance their bad subprime loans may be a little closer to congressional help today.

In a procedural vote this morning, known as a cloture vote, the Senate voted 83-9 to limit further debate on the foreclosure-combating bill that has been Sen. Chris Dodd's chief effort in recent months. This protects the bill from any potential filibustering from its opponents and cuts the remaining debate time before the Senate will finally vote on the bill -- as early as this afternoon.

"There is nothing that is as important as this bill in the country at this moment," Dodd said before the morning vote.

Then, after the successful tally, he asked his colleagues not to try to bog the bill down with amendments -- especially those that aren't paid for. "Some discipline is needed here," he said. "This is the issue of the hour."

One chief problem could be the promised veto from the Bush administration, but if the Senate gets more than a 2/3 Yes vote on the bill, that's a level of support that could override a veto. The spotlight would then turn on the compromise with the House, which has already passed a similar bill, but one that's a little less palatable for the White House because of its taxpayer implications.

This afternoon, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino made the administration position sound a little softer than its earlier hard veto threat. "We do think that there are some really good aspects of that Senate bill," she said. "I think they're on the right path on working on a housing bill that would help the American people. Hopefully in Congress, they will work something out, and we are working closely with them."

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3 Comments

Did Dodd's payment amendment make it through? Does anyone know? He had snuck in a provision that is a vast overreach which will create databases of anyone and everyone who uses online payment services to make payment for something. Come on Dodd, figure out how to cut spending and stop working on taxing Americans even more than they already pay. I'm a Democrat and it is becoming hard to defend this party with backhanded and nonsensical actions like this!

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RESPONSE FROM ON BACKGROUND:

That provision isn't actually Dodd's, but yes, I believe it's still in the housing bill. It actually requires the financial institutions to report overall credit card receipts to the IRS (and to the businesses where the money was spent.) Supporters claim it doesn't infringe on individuals' privacy.

How ironic is it that Bank of America has bought Countrywide, and is "flipping" its bad loans onto the government, which has yet to prove anything other than complete ineptness throughout this whole foreclosure crisis, as if Bank of America was like an investor trying to "flip" a house: in buying a run-down property (Countrywide) for a discount, shelling out some campaign cash (Dodd) and earning some "equity" through lobbying. If the Dodd-Shelby bill continues through with out any further revisions, you can bank on Dodd never having to worry about finding friends in the lending industry, they'll always make sure he feels like a VIP.